


O'Driscoll Boy's First Job

by necrohamster



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Minor Character Death, One Shot, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27698656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/necrohamster/pseuds/necrohamster
Summary: Bill and Arthur are planning on robbing a stagecoach and need a third player. The only person available is the horse boy.
Kudos: 20





	O'Driscoll Boy's First Job

“Whatchu up to, Bill?”

“None of your business, Morgan,” Bill snapped back almost immediately, prompting an amused smirk and a chortle from his fellow outlaw. “It’s  _ nothing _ ,” Bill ‘clarified’, clumsily folding up the map he’d been marking down just moments before.

“Shore does look like a whole lotta  _ something _ ,” Arthur mumbled, attempting to look over Bill’s shoulder as the man continued to struggle with getting the map folded. “You goin’ somewhere special?” 

Bill grunted, finally settling for a haphazard folding job, and stuffed the map into his bag. “If you  _ must  _ know,  _ Arthur,  _ I got me a lead. A good one, too! Stagecoach is comin’ through a bit past Emerald Ranch. Not too many guards, and a big payoff. Should be easy money.”

Arthur let out a disbelieving huff that earned a glare from Bill as the man stood from his seat and began to gather his things. “Need some help?” Arthur finally offered after a moment of silence between the two of them.

For a moment, Bill paused, looking up from the rifle he was loading, and furrowed his brow. On one hand, Arthur was kind of an asshole to him on jobs like this, but on the other hand — well, Arthur  _ was _ good with a gun… “ _ Fine, _ ” Bill finally grumbled, “You go get someone else to come along. Not one a’ the girls, I don’t wanna do none of that dramatic crap.”

“They can do more’n dramatics…” Arthur retorted under his breath, as he turned to look at the camp to see who was available. Only a small amount of the gang was here and didn’t seem too busy. Uncle, Swanson, Pearson, Molly…

“ _ Duffy!” _

Kieran jumped, nearly dropping the rag he was using to polish the saddle in his lap. With the grace of a mule, he set the saddle aside and got to his feet, rushing over to see why he’d been called over. “Yessir?”

“Get on yer horse, yer comin’ with me n’ Bill.” Arthur stated matter-of-factly, already turning away to head for his own mount. 

“But—”

“But  _ nothin’!  _ If you polish them damn saddles anymore, they’re gonna disappear! Y’might as well make yerself useful, huh?” Arthur glanced back to send Kieran a glare that was enough to get him moving.

Kieran, seeing the people he was going along with, was almost certain that this was it, and they were going to take him someplace quiet to shoot like a lame horse. He reluctantly trudged over to Branwen, giving her a good pat on the neck before climbing up onto the saddle. 

“We’re bringin’ the boah,” Arthur grumbled to Bill, while hopping up onto his own horse. Bill blinked dumbly, then turned to look around and see who Arthur was even talking about. He scanned around them once, twice, and a third time before  _ finally  _ realizing who Arthur had invited along. 

“Like hell we are!” Bill snapped, pulling himself up onto Brown Jack’s saddle with a huff. “We can’t trust that idiot, he could — turn on us at any second!” 

“ _ Please, _ ” Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle, “he’s too damn scared of us t’do somethin’ like that, n’ you know it! Now, quit yer complainin’ and let’s git a move on.”

Secretly, Kieran was hoping that Bill would keep pushing enough to get Arthur to relent and pick someone else. He didn’t  _ want  _ to come along with these two for… whatever it was they were doing. Probably something ridiculously dangerous and ridiculously illegal — if it  _ wasn’t  _ just a plan to lure him out of camp and kill him, that is.

Unfortunately for Kieran, Bill huffed and puffed but ultimately decided that the fight wasn’t worth his trouble. And, so, the three of them headed out of camp. Bill in the lead, Arthur in the middle, and Kieran trailing behind, clearly nervous about whatever he was getting dragged into.

The former O’Driscoll wrung the reins in his hands anxiously for a few moments as they left camp, before finally piping up with, “So, um, wh—”

“Shut it!” Bill fired back before Kieran could finish his question. 

“Awhh, lay off the kid, Bill!” Arthur laughed, “He probably thinks we’re about to take him to an old barn and snip his balls off!” 

This statement didn’t do much to reassure Kieran. “Wh-What  _ are  _ we doin’, Mr.Morgan?”

Arthur opened his mouth to respond, but Bill spoke up before he managed to even get a word out. “Robbin’ a ‘coach! So just keep yer damn mouth shut n’ listen to what we got to say, and maybe we  _ won’t  _ go and cut yer parts off!”

Kieran was silent the rest of the ride. He had questions, sure, but he figured it’d be best to not risk the likely empty threat turning out to be true. Arthur and Bill bickered the whole way, as per usual, and damn near forgot Kieran was there, with how quiet he was.

“We should stop up here, in the trees. Leave the horses, so they’re outta sight.” Bill said, easing Brown Jack to a stop and hopping off the saddle so he could hitch the horse to an oak. “The wagon should be comin’ up through that fork — from the left, I think?”

“You don’t know left from right, quit playin’!” Arthur chuckled, slinging a rifle over his shoulder and pulling a bandana over his mouth. 

Bill shot Arthur a glare, but otherwise ignored the remark. “We ain’t doin’ nothin’ fancy. Just shoot at ‘em when they come onto the main road. We can git ‘em from every angle if we split up. Arthur, you head up there, by that big rock. I’ll go down to them raspberry bushes.  _ O’Driscoll,  _ you can go stay by that log up there. Don’t screw this up, y’hear me?”

Kieran nodded, and took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the events ahead of him. But as Arthur began to head off, Kieran realized something, and turned to Bill again. “I-I don’t got a rifle—” He began to explain, but before he could, Bill rolled his eyes and shoved the bolt action rifle he’d been holding into the other man’s arms. 

“Now  _ git!  _ And cover yer damn face up!” Bill snapped, gesturing for Kieran to get a move on to his appointed spot.

The men waited for about twenty or thirty minutes in complete silence, their gazes all fixated on the roads and their ears waiting for the sound of wheels and hooves. Every time someone passed through, all three of them would perk up, and eventually settle back down upon realizing it was just a dairy wagon or some friends on the way to town.

This entire time, Kieran was just stewing in his own anxiety. He knew that if he even messed this up slightly, it'd be his head on the line. When the sound of about ten horses was finally audible, he was absolutely terrified. He checked to make sure his (or, well, Bill's) gun was loaded properly one more time, adjusted the cloth over his mouth and nose, and waited.

Bill glanced over at Arthur and Kieran, making sure they were still paying attention as the coach got closer to their position. He peered through the scope of his rifle to get a better look at the coach; it was led by four large horses, and had six guards on horseback. Three in front, three in the back. Another guard sat up front with the driver. 

The first shot fired was from Bill. 

One of the guards let out a pained cry as a bullet pierced their shoulder and exploded out the other side. The other men hollered in confusion and horses whinnied as shots started from all around them. Kieran couldn't help the small burst of pride and excitement when he blew a guard's head apart, but it was quickly replaced by guilt. Not that it kept his finger from the trigger.

Arthur, as per usual, was the one to get the most hits in. In fact, he was the one who took out the driver. This likely wasn't the best idea, though, because without a driver, there wasn't anyone to stop the horses. 

As the final guard went down, the coach went rumbling away, with the horses leading it wide eyed and panicked. "SHIT!" Bill shouted, bursting from his hiding spot in a futile attempt to stop the runaway wagon.

"Good going, genius!" Arthur hollered, stumbling out of his own cover within the brush. "Easy money, you said, huh?!"

The two men began to argue about what they were going to do about the wagon, and Kieran stumbled down the slope he'd been hiding on. Knowing that his hide would likely get tanned for this, even though it wasn't his fault, he began to panic. Branwen was much too far away to get on, but…

Like a bee to a flower, Kieran found himself heading towards a horse that was still covered in its dead rider's blood. Bill and Arthur were so engrossed in screaming at each other, that they didn't even notice. Kieran hopped onto the saddle, not even minding the blood, and tore off past Bill and Arthur without even a warning.

"Hey- HEY, where the HELL are you going?!" Bill shouted at the boy, and Arthur stared after him in total confusion. Kieran was so focused on getting the damn wagon, that he didn't even respond. 

Bill and Arthur quickly realized what he was doing, and started to run for their own horses, intent on trying to catch up with him.

Kieran's eyes were focused on the wheel tracks in the mud for a good agonizing ten or so or so seconds before he finally got the wagon in his sights, which was still moving along. The horses were panicked, and it'd probably take a good long while for them to stop on their own accord.

"Oh God," Kieran huffed under his breath as his new mount came closer and closer to the coach, "please don't let me die doin' this!" 

As soon as Kieran found himself alongside the still-moving vehicle, he shakily pulled his right foot from the stirrup, and placed it onto the saddle, while still keeping a knuckle white grip on the reins. After a quick prayer, he swiftly pulled his left foot from the stirrup, and jumped onto the coach.

The impact knocked the wind out of him, but he somehow managed to get a hold of the metal frame on top of the coach, and held on so tightly that it cut into his palm. He scrambled to get himself into the seat up front, and was relieved and surprised when he finally got there. Grateful that the hard part was over, he reached for the abandoned reins and started to work on both stopping the coach and catching his breath. 

As the horses finally began to slow down to a trot after a good thirty seconds, Kieran finally was able to bring the coach to a stop, and hopped down. After about a minute of waiting, Arthur and Bill rounded the corner on their own horses, and Kieran was glad to see Branwen following behind. 

"Well, shit!" Arthur huffed, turning to look at Bill as the two of them stopped next to the runaway coach. "And you thought it was a bad idea to being him along!"

"Shut it, Morgan!" Bill snapped, as he hopped off of his horse to come inspect the wagon. "You better not have stole nothin', boy!"

"No sir!" Kieran frowned, a bit disappointed that Bill didn't even bother acknowledging his achievement. Not that he was surprised, of course. He reached into his pocket for a pack of cigarettes as Bill searched the coach, and pulled out a lock box.

Arthur shot off the lock, and him and Bill went about counting the earnings. Kieran went off to go check on Branwen and have his smoke. He was sore and tired and ready to go home.

"Hey."

Kieran looked up at the sound of Bill's voice, and was met with the sight of the man holding out a stack of cash. There was a moment of silence, before Bill spoke up again. "You gonna take it or not, dumbass?!"

Hesitantly, Kieran reached out and took the stack of bills, unsure exactly what to make of it. In hindsight, it seemed like common sense that he'd get a cut, but he just hadn't expected it. "Th-Thank you," he finally manage to stammer out, anxiously leafing through the money without actually counting it. 

"Yeah, whatever," Bill grunted, moving back towards Brown Jack. However, he paused, then turned to look at Kieran again. "You did good. Alright?"

The comment took Kieran off guard, and he wasn't sure exactly what to say in response. He opened his mouth, but no words managed to make their way to the surface.

"Did  _ good _ ?" Arthur repeated with a scoff, "I oughta start bringing the O'Driscoll along on jobs instead of you, Bill!"

"Don't push it, Morgan!" The other man huffed, pulling himself onto his saddle. "We oughta split up. There ain't no way nobody didn't see or hear some a' that. I'll see you two back at camp."

"Don't forget to put the gang's share in the box!" Arthur called after the veteran as he started off, and got a dismissive wave in response. "He's a real hard ass, Duffy. Don't pay him too much mind. Be careful on yer way back, alright? Don't git yerself killed."

"Yessir." Kieran said, reaching into his saddle bags for some cloth bandages he could put on his hands. "See ya', Arthur."

"Hey," Arthur said, giving Kieran's shoulder a nudge, "Y'did good."

With that, Arthur headed off, leaving Kieran alone with Branwen. And, as he watched Arthur leave, he couldn't help the smile that crept onto his lips. Arthur's words repeated in his head, distantly.

_ Y'did good. _

**Author's Note:**

> this appeals to like nobody but me but i just wish kieran got to be part of the gang more :(


End file.
